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October 04, 2022

Dear Student,

I write to remind you of certain rights you have as a student at the University of Virginia under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a set of federal laws and rules that require UVA to protect the privacy of your education records.

UVA’s policy, STU-002: Rights of Students at the University of Virginia Pursuant to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), provides more details regarding your rights under FERPA and the procedures UVA has established to help you exercise your rights. Please consult this policy for more information.

Under FERPA, regarding your education records, you have the right to:

  • inspect and review their content;
  • submit a written request for an explanation of them;
  • request a hearing to challenge their content;
  • expect UVA to protect their confidentiality—neither your records nor your personally identifiable information contained in them, except for Directory Information (see below), will be released without your permission to anyone other than those parties specifically authorized by FERPA (for more information about these parties, click here);
  • refuse to permit the release of your Directory Information;
  • exercise all rights on your own behalf, regardless of your status as a dependent for tax purposes; and
  • file complaints with the Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) of the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by UVA to comply with FERPA requirements. Complaints may be submitted to:
Student Privacy Policy Office
United States Department of Education
400 Maryland Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20202-4605


To learn more about how you can exercise these rights, please click here to review the procedures defined under STU-002.

UVA does not publish student Directory Information publicly. UVA shares Directory Information with third parties as part of enrollment or degree certification processes, or when required to do so under state and federal laws. Directory Information at UVA for students includes:

  • name
  • year of birth
  • major field of study
  • school of enrollment
  • location of attendance
  • full-time/part-time status
  • level and year in school
  • medical residency placement
  • expected graduation date
  • participation in officially recognized activities and sports
  • dates of attendance
  • candidacy for degree
  • degrees, honors, scholarships, and awards received
  • any unique identifying number created for the purpose of compiling, releasing, or transmitting Directory Information

If you wish to prohibit the University from sharing your Directory Information, you may ask the Office of the University Registrar (UREG) to place a FERPA restriction on your academic record in SIS. Please carefully consider the impact of any decision to withhold Directory Information. If you choose to withhold this information, any future request from non-institutional persons or organizations will be refused unless your written consent is provided with the request. This includes verification of education/degrees earned at UVA. For more information about the impact of placing a FERPA restriction on your educational record and how to place or remove it, please consult this list of frequently asked questions.

Kind regards,

Laura F. Hawthorne
Associate Vice Provost and University Registrar